New York state’s Democratic Party leaders moved to greatly shorten the lead time before voters can register to cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential primaries.
Under current laws, voters in New York must register in a political party more than six months before the primary vote is held. Party registration can only be changed 25 days or more before a general election, held in November. The presidential primaries are not held until late the following April.
In 2016, New York gained negative attention for having the most restrictive rules in the nation. The long lead time to register favored the more establishment candidate Hillary Clinton over challenger Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary, and progressive groups in New York complained. Clinton won the primary.
State Democratic Party chair Jay Jacobs, say he wants to change that to 60 days before the primary.
“Which brings it a lot closer,” Jacobs said following a meeting of party leaders in Albany May 23.
Jacobs says those not enrolled in any party can register even closer to the presidential primary date, 25 days before.
Jacobs says the changes were made partly to appease left-leaning members of the Democratic Party, who have often been at odds with the more moderate Governor Andrew Cuomo over policy issues.
“We have to be united to defeat Donald Trump,” said Jacobs. "We're going to do that and we're not going to let anything get in our way."
The new rules would guard against anyone joining a party or switching party affiliations just to vote in the presidential primary. Once a voter registers in a party, they can’t switch to another party for a period of two to four years.
The presidential primary will be held on April 28, 2020.
The new rules need to be approved by the legislature and are expected to pass.
